By The Associated Press
- Today is Friday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 1999. There are 329
days left in the year.
- On Feb. 5, 1937, President Roosevelt proposed increasing the
number of Supreme Court justices; critics charged Roosevelt was
attempting to "pack" the court.
- In 1631, the founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, and his
wife arrived in Boston from England.
- In 1783, Sweden recognized the independence of the United States.
- In 1881, Phoenix, Ariz., was incorporated.
- In 1887, Verdi's opera "Otello" premiered at La Scala.
- In 1917, Congress passed, over President Wilson's veto, an
immigration act severely curtailing the influx of Asians.
- In 1917, Mexico's Constitution was adopted.
- In 1940, Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded "Tuxedo Junction"
for RCA Victor's "Bluebird" label.
- In 1958, Gamel Abdel Nasser was formally nominated to become the
first president of the new United Arab Republic.
- In 1962, French President Charles De Gaulle called for Algeria's
independence.
- In 1981, a military jury in North Carolina convicted Marine Pvt.
1st Class Robert Garwood of collaborating with the enemy while a
prisoner of war in Vietnam.
- In 1988, the Arizona House impeached Gov. Evan Mecham, setting
the stage for his trial and conviction in the state Senate.
- Ten years ago: The Soviet Union announced that all but a small
rear-guard contingent of its troops had left Afghanistan.
- Five years ago: Sixty-eight people were killed when a mortar
shell exploded in a marketplace in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
White separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in Jackson,
Miss., of murdering civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963, and
was immediately sentenced to life in prison.
- One year ago: Democratic fundraiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie
pleaded innocent in Washington to charges he'd raised illegal
donations to buy influence in high places. A federal judge in Los
Angeles threw out Charles Keating's state securities fraud
conviction for a second time, saying the trial judge had given
jurors flawed instructions.
*Today's Birthdays*
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- Comedian-actor Red Buttons is 80.
- The Rev. Andrew M. Greeley is 71.
- Baseball Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron is 65.
- Television producer-writer Stephen J. Cannell is 58.
- Singer-songwriter Barrett Strong is 58.
- Football Hall-of-Famer Roger Staubach is 57.
- Singer Cory Wells (Three Dog Night) is 57.
- Actress Charlotte Rampling is 53.
- Actress Barbara Hershey is 51.
- Actor Christopher Guest is 51.
- Actress Jennifer Jason Leigh is 37.
- Rock musician Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses) is 35.
- Rock singer Chris Barron (Spin Doctors) is 31.
- Singer Bobby Brown is 30.